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Trump Confirms He Will Skip First GOP Debate; Extreme Weather Events Putting Spotlight On Role Of Climate Change; DeSantis Distances Himself From Super PAC Debate Memo. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired August 21, 2023 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[13:30:00]

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: But where there is not as much value is candidates wanting to really go at Donald Trump. So, a Chris Christie or an Asa Hutchinson may not have as much opportunity for breakout moments because their goal was to go at him directly.

For the rest of the field, they have not been wanting to take him on directly. So not having him there actually lets them go forward with that strategy.

I would argue, looking at the numbers, it's not a strategy that seems to be working all that well for them.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: At what point do you think that Donald Trump says OK, now it's time for me to maybe rejoin this debate process?

CHALIAN: Certainly, if the polls start to narrow and he sees people are making real inroads into his support in the party, he may want to show up.

He's had success with debates in the past so there's no doubt that there is opportunity there. But his thinking is, right now, why am I going to let these people, who are also-rans right now -- he's so far ahead -- take shots at me? It doesn't seem there's a percentage in that for him.

I would note, according to polls, three-quarters of Republicans want to see Donald Trump on the debate stage. They think, if you qualified for the debate, you should show up.

If that continues, that may be pressure on Trump as well throughout the season.

KEILAR: That will be very interesting. And they could be taking shots at him during a critical week legally for him, we should also mention.

David Chalian, thank you very much.

CHALIAN: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Let's get some perspective now with former Illinois Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger. Remember, he was a member of the January 6th Select Committee.

Adam, thanks so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us.

Let's start with advice you might have for some of these candidates. If you're running for the White House as a Republican and your name isn't Donald Trump, how do you win?

ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, I don't know how you win. Because I think the only guy that right now can win is Donald Trump. And part of that is because nobody is taking him on.

Look, every indictment that comes down, the Republican base is looking to all these Republican leaders to say, is this a big deal or not.

When all of these Republican leaders with a few exceptions say, no, not only is this not a big deal, this is an attack on Donald Trump, it's a violation of his rights, all that kind of stuff, of course, they're going to believe that and they're going to rally around Donald Trump.

Because in their mind, their leaders are telling them that this is a witch hunt against Donald Trump.

I think the winning strategy is not necessarily for a single person on the debate stage, but if they all would actually go after Donald Trump, you could begin to change people's minds.

They're not going to do that. What you're going to see -- this is going to be kind of funny to watch -- is they will all be eager to prove how tough they are, how fierce of a debater they are.

And they're going to do it by debating other people on the stage and ignoring Donald Trump. With the exception of Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson.

It will be funny to watch them try to be tough without actually taking on the person they need to.

SANCHEZ: Well, isn't it a kind of prisoner's dilemma in a sense? Because those that have gone after Trump, like Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson, they've been rewarded with support in the single digits.

There hasn't really been a huge response from voters for those that have gone after the former president.

KINZINGER: Well, sort of. Yes, it is a prisoner's dilemma because, if you look at examples, people that have taken on the former president get either shunned from the party -- I'm sitting here --

(LAUGHTER)

KINZINGER: -- or they end up in single digits in the polling.

But if you look at the others that aren't taking on Donald Trump directly, where are they at? They're in single digits. They're being shunned. Same thing. The question is, are you auditioning for a role in a future Trump

administration, in which case, my actual advice would be, drop out and endorse Donald Trump and try to kiss up to him even more, or are you actually running for the job of president?

If you're running for the job of president, you have to win. How do you win? It's not going to be by kissing up to the frontrunner. He's the frontrunner.

It's going to be by taking him on, hoping some of those arguments break through. And ultimately, we'll need some consolidation around those that are, I'll call it the anti-Trump candidates.

SANCHEZ: It seems they're bolstering his argument by coming to his defense.

So even if there is a huge moment after the debate, ultimately, wouldn't it be overshadowed by the fact that, a day or two later, Donald Trump is going to turn himself in in Fulton County and suck up all the oxygen and headlines out of the room?

Ultimately, are his legal battles going to be the story of the campaign season?

KINZINGER: Oh, absolutely. They're absolutely going to be the story. This will be what the entire campaign, not just in the primary, but in the general election, is about. He's going to use these as he does very well.

But it's still confusing to me why people are attracted to this. He's the biggest victim, the biggest, you know, whiner. Despite having occupied the most powerful job in the world, he's been the victim of everything. For some reason that works.

Again, I would argue the reason it works is because the Republican base, you get an indictment, they look to people to tell them, people they trust, to tell them is this a big deal or not.

[13:35:07]

And when the people they trust are saying, no, not a big deal, they're going to rally around Donald Trump. So, yes, it's going to be the story of the season.

I think when Donald Trump turns himself in, that will wipe away anything that was talked about at the debate. That's just the nature.

I'm not sure that Donald Trump necessarily loves the images of him walking into the courtroom and potential mugshots but he definitely will take over the stage for sure.

SANCHEZ: And quickly, out of curiosity, have you spoken to any of the candidates on the debate stage about the campaign?

KINZINGER: I have, yes. I've talked to a few of them. Personally, I like seeing what Chris Christie is doing. He's kind of

like out of -- just telling the truth, having fun, saying what needs to be said. And I have a lot of respect for that. Him, Asa Hutchinson, Will Hurd.

I think if others would come forward and just tell the truth, first off, it would be liberating. It's fun to do that because you don't have to constantly worry and they may do damage to Donald Trump.

SANCHEZ: Former Congressman Adam Kinzinger, thanks so much for the time.

KINZINGER: You bet.

SANCHEZ: Jim?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Coming up next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, 911 lines are down, roads covered in thick mud, water gushing out of storm drains. The latest on the damage Hilary brought to the southwest.

And three people have now died, more are sick after drinking tainted milkshakes. What you need to know.

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[13:41:01]

SCIUTTO: As Hilary moves north, the storm is shattering rainfall records in southern California, leaving behind flooding. Hilary's historic landfall marked the first time a tropical storm hit that region in 84 years.

Just the latest extreme weather event to strike the planet. This month, deadly wildfires swept across Hawaii, killing at least 114, many hundreds still missing. In July, earth recorded the hottest month ever.

The string of weather-related disasters is putting a spotlight on the role that climate change is playing.

Daniel Swain is a USLA climate scientist who studies how climate change affects extreme weather events.

Daniel, just listen, it's difficult for folks to understand. And I know that climate is not weather. However, climate certainly affects weather and we're seeing evidence of that virtually every day.

Can scientists like yourself, doing the research, connect the dots between an event like this and the changes we're seeing as a result of climate change?

DANIEL SWAIN, CLIMATE SCIENTIST, UCLA INSTITUTE OF THE ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY: Well, you're absolutely right that climate is not weather, but also weather is directly affected by climate and, therefore, by climate change. We are seeing increases in certain types of extreme weather events in

a warming climate. Some are more linked than others. Extreme heat, of course, perhaps the most obvious link.

But also extreme precipitation events is maybe the next most obvious connection between a warming climate and extreme weather.

Of course, the main impacts from this event we just saw unfold in California, with this Tropical Storm Hilary, was an extreme precipitation and flood event.

SCIUTTO: I know from talking to our meteorologists that warming waters in the Pacific help spawn a storm of this strength and send it to a place that it normally wouldn't come.

Does the warming planet mean that places like southern California has to brace itself for more storms like this in the future?

SWAIN: That's a really interesting question that I've been getting a lot in the last few days. And the most direct answer is we don't know yet because this is not a topic that has been much researched.

The question is very different in California than on the eastern seaboard are hurricanes are much more common and ocean temperatures are supportive of hurricanes.

We don't expect water temperatures off the coast of California will warm enough to support hurricane development, say, right off the Santa Monica pier.

But it is possible, or at least plausible, that warming ocean temperatures will make it a little bit easier for those storms that form further south along the coast of Mexico to weaken less quickly as they approach California from the south, on occasion.

It will still be rare, but slightly less rare. And the precipitation that might occur when we see events like this with much -- would likely be much more intense in a warming climate because climate change increases all kinds of extreme precipitation events.

SCIUTTO: One thing that I think it's hard for folks at home to understand are the massive swings. You look at a place like California, had drought, you had wildfires, and then, all of a sudden, the snow season was off the charts, right. You had enormous precipitation during the winter.

Here again, you have an area impacted by drought and now rainfall like we haven't seen in a century. Can you help people understand how that swing is -- that pendulum swing as it were, is difficult for the ecosystem to handle?

SWAIN: Well, I think you've kind of hit the nail on the head here in terms of what we expect one of the greatest challenges to be in a warming climate in California and in some other places around the world, too.

We call it increasing precipitation whiplash or increasing hydro climate whiplash.

What it means, we're likely to see increasingly wide swings between very wet conditions and floods, on the one hand, but also, yes, very dry conditions and droughts on the other.

[13:45:01]

And all of this has to come down to a pretty fundamental physical principle, the water vapor holding capacity of the atmosphere, which increases exponentially in a warming climate.

So that raises the ceiling not only on how intense precipitation can become, but also the ceiling on how intense evaporation can become. In other words, how thirsty the atmosphere is, how quickly it draws water out of the soil, out of vegetation, out of the landscape.

So by that same fundamental mechanism, you actually can expect more intense extremes, both on the wet and dry sides of the spectrum in places like California, which really is going to be a challenge for ecosystems and water infrastructure alike.

SCIUTTO: Yes. That answer you gave helped me understand a little bit. I think whiplash is the word. You struck on it. Tose swings are just remarkable.

Daniel, thanks so much for helping walk us through it.

SWAIN: Thanks for having me.

SCIUTTO: Boris?

SANCHEZ: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour.

The Canadian military has been dispatched to help tackle fast-moving wildfires in British Columbia. That update coming from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. More than 30,000 people have been evacuated, as more than 400 fires blaze across the region.

Lake Country Fire Chief Darren Lee got choked up when talking about the heroic efforts from teams battling the flames. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARREN LEE, CHIEF, LAKE COUNTRY FIRE DEPARTMENT: I just want to congratulate all our firefighters. You know, for thousands of years, just regular people stepped up to be warriors, to protect their villages, protect their neighbors.

And, you know, there's people up there working 36, 48-hour shifts and they take an absolute beating. They know their family is being evacuated while they're trying to defend their neighbor's home, and they just keep going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Really emotional comments there. Meantime, here in the United States, three people are dead and three

others were hospitalized after drinking contaminated milkshakes. They came from Frugals, a Tacoma, Washington, area restaurant, which the Health Department says did not properly clean its milkshake machine, allowing listeria to breed.

Anyone who ate at Frugals between May 29th and August 7th is encouraged to contact a doctor if they develop any symptoms of listeria or bacterial poisoning.

And the New York City drug dealer who sold Actor Michael K. Williams a deadly dose of heroin mixed with Fentanyl has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The U.S. attorney announcing that Irvin Cartagena also received a five-year sentence for conspiring to distribute tainted drugs.

Williams was best known for his role in the HBO drama "The Wire," where he played Omar. He passed away in September 2021 from what the coroner described as an accidental overdose.

Brianna?

KEILAR: Next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, he's painting the Republican primary as a two-man race, but polls show Ron DeSantis is a lot closer to the rest of the field than he is to Donald Trump.

So could this upcoming debate offer him a breakout moment perhaps? What we're learning about his strategy ahead of Wednesday night.

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[13:52:50]

KEILAR: The breaking news, we're learning that former President Trump and several of his co-defendants are expected to negotiate bond terms with the Fulton County D.A.'s office today.

And all of this is coming as the first Republican presidential debate is just days away now.

Ron DeSantis's campaign saying the Florida governor is prepared to be the center of attacks this week at the first GOP debate. And that was their thinking even before Donald Trump confirmed that he would be a no-show.

A new memo argues that the primary is a "two-man race" between DeSantis and former President Trump. It goes on to say the DeSantis team expects the other candidates to grab headlines by attacking the governor.

But there's another memo that is not from the DeSantis campaign that is stirring confusion just days before the debate.

CNN's Steve Contorno covering politics for us in Florida.

Steve, tell us more about this. Because if this is confusing, we know that you can set it straight.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well, Brianna, the governor has been practicing for this debate for weeks extensively. He has been working with one of the most experienced and respected debate coaches in the industry.

Which is why there are people around him who are so alarmed and confused on why a super PAC supporting DeSantis that seemed to almost undermine those efforts last week by submitting some 11th-hour suggestions for the governor for this debate.

It included advice to, quote, "hammer" Vivek Ramaswamy in the debate as well as defend former President Donald Trump if he is attacked by someone like Chris Christie.

DeSantis and his campaign have tried to distance themselves from this memo.

Take a listen to what he said over the weekend when asked about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL) & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, the memo is not mine. I haven't read it. And I think it's something I think we have put off to the side.

But in terms of the debate, look, when you're -- I know from the military, when you're over the target, that's when you're taking flak.

And if you look really in the last six to nine months, I've been more attacked than anybody else. Biden, Harris, the media, the left, other Republican candidates.

And there's a reason for that. Because people know that I'm the biggest threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:55:03]

CONTORNO: As you said, Brianna, DeSantis put out their own debate memo from his campaign where they try to make it seem like this is a two- person race. Clearly, he is suggesting that he is the most viable candidate other than Trump.

However, when you look at the polling, it would suggest that DeSantis is actually much closer to the rest of the field than he is to the former president.

And that might mean that there's an opportunity here for someone, like Tim Scott or a Ramaswamy or whoever, to have that moment and start capitalizing and seizing some of DeSantis' support.

This is a very important moment for his campaign. I'm told by people close to him that they have eyed this on their calendar for weeks as the chance for him to really break out and start to move away from the rest of the field.

We'll have to see Wednesday if he's able to do that -- Brianna?

KEILAR: And Ron DeSantis has lost a lot of ground. So we'll certainly be watching to see what happens at this debate.

Steve Contorno, thank you so much for that.

Jim?

SCIUTTO: Ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, we are live outside the Atlanta jail where former President Trump and his 18 co-defendants have until the end of the week to turn themselves in. New details about their planned surrenders. That's coming up.

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